Service management systems often include a distributed architecture with different management systems tailored toward the particular environment with which the management system is associated. For example, a service management system may include a first management system for managing services and service nodes in a fixed network and a second management system for managing services and service nodes in a mobile network. The different management systems often operate independently, making management of the services between these different environments difficult. Moreover, these different management systems often have a lot of overlapping functions, which adds to network overhead.
The service management systems do not include a central point of knowledge about which services exist and how the services relate to each other. Thus, management of a large number of services is difficult. There exists a need for a service management system that is capable of efficiently managing services and service nodes.